As a longtime board member of a family foundation committed to advancing liberty, free markets and free expression, I’ve supported countless organizations that promote these values. From think tanks to public interest law firms, I’ve seen firsthand the power of ideas to change culture and policy. But there is one area that has long been neglected—an area where the state exercises sweeping, unchecked power over the most vulnerable among us: the foster care system.
At first glance, foster care reform might not strike some as a top-tier policy issue. It doesn’t involve taxes, business regulation or speech rights. But dig deeper and you’ll find a system that violates nearly every principle of fairness and justice: unchecked government authority, lack of due process, the destruction of families and a complete absence of individual rights for children.
Children in foster care do not enjoy the same constitutional protections as the rest of us.
Many appear in court without legal representation. Some are removed from safe homes by overzealous officials. Others are returned to dangerous environments simply to preserve a bureaucratic narrative of family reunification—even when the results are tragic. In too many cases, children become wards of the state not for weeks or months, but for years. Sometimes, for life.
This is not justice. This is systemic failure.
Enter Darcy Olsen, founder of The Center for the Rights of Abused Children. A former CEO of a national public policy organization, Olsen could have remained in the world of white papers and policy debates. Instead, she did what few have the courage to do. She left a prestigious position to create a new kind of nonprofit dedicated to defending children’s rights—after opening her home to 10 foster children, four of whom she adopted permanently.
What she witnessed was appalling: kids treated like property, shuffled between placements, their voices unheard, their fates decided by government agencies and courts without adequate legal protections.
The Center she founded is not just about policy—it’s about justice. It fights for every child to have legal representation, powered by a growing network of pro bono attorneys. It demands accountability in the courts, prioritizes permanent, loving families over bureaucratic inertia and places each child’s safety and future above rigid one-size-fits-all policies.
For example, one of their pro bono attorneys tried to help two Florida teens—siblings who lost their mother to an overdose and whose father was in prison—reunite and live with their grandmother. But the state’s Guardian ad Litem Office blocked the attorney from representing them, and the courts upheld that decision. Despite this, The Center’s persistent advocacy outside the courtroom ultimately reunited the siblings with their grandmother.
In Arizona, an eight-year-old girl walked into The Center’s pro bono clinic and asked for a lawyer. Her story was tragic: adopted by her grandparents after her mother’s addiction struggles, she was abused daily by her grandfather. When the state removed her, they still pushed for reunification with the grandmother—even though the grandfather remained in the home.
She begged them to listen. No one did—except The Center. Their attorney fought to terminate her adoptive parents’ rights and won. Later, when adopted by her foster family, the little girl chose a new name: that of her pro bono lawyer—the one who finally gave her a voice.
Let’s ask the hard questions. If we believe the government should not have unchecked power over adults, how can we remain silent while it exercises near-total control over children— especially those without parents, lawyers or advocates?
The stakes are enormous. A disproportionate number of children who are trafficked, incarcerated, homeless or lost to suicide come from the foster care system. If you’re concerned about rising crime, addiction or social breakdown, look upstream. Much of it begins with broken families— and a broken foster care system meant to protect them.
This is not a sentimental appeal. It is a call for principled reform. The foster care system is failing not just because it is large or inefficient—but because it is unaccountable. If any other government agency were responsible for outcomes like abuse, neglect, exploitation or even death, we’d demand reform or even abolishment.
What if it were your children? What if you and your spouse died unexpectedly and your children ended up in state custody? Who would decide their fate? Who would speak for them? Would they have a lawyer representing their best interests—or would they become just another case number in a bureaucratic nightmare?
Many children enter foster care through no fault of their own—because of addiction, mental illness, death or abandonment. They are not just “the state’s problem.” They are our fellow Americans. And the systems shaping their lives are the same ones we know require scrutiny and reform.
Supporting foster care reform is not a departure from our principles. It is a powerful expression of them. It is a demand that the rights we fight for—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness— apply to every person, not just those lucky enough to be born into stable families.
This is a fight for freedom, justice and dignity—where it is needed most. And it’s one that every one of us—no matter our background or political beliefs—should support.
Thomas is a Detroit-based businessman and serves on the board of The Rodney Fund.
To learn more about The Center for the Rights of Abused Children, please contact Esther Larson, senior director of programs at Philanthropy Roundtable here.
